I may be an expatriate St. Louisan, but I'm a Cardinal Fan Forever. Mostly, I write haiku recaps of every game. Occasionally, I write longer stuff with pictures. Twitter: @CardinalHaiku

The Inevitable Truth

Police announced this morning that Josh Hancock was legally drunk with a 0.157 blood alcohol level, nearly twice the legal limit. He was also talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident. Disappointing news, but nobody is going to be surprised by it. This doesn’t diminish the tragedy to me, but I do hope that his example will remain in the heads of sports fans as they contemplate whether to drive home after several frosty Buschs at the ballpark. Perhaps additional tragedies can be averted.Post-Dispatch story

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Imagine how much bigger the tragedy would have been if innocent people would have been killed or seriously injured too? This news changes my feelings a little on the whiole situatuon. Not that I don’t think it is terrible, but I unfortunately feel less sympathetic than I did before. I have a hard time feeling bad for him… I do still feel terrible for the friends, teammates, and family that have to deal with their loss and now the reason behind it. On top of that, reports say you can toss in a marijuana pipe and marijuana (although toxicology reports have not been completed, but it was there) and talking on a cell phone. I feel really bad for the young lady he was talking to that will now have to deal with that moment for the rest of her life.

Steve, I agree it taints things. This will be different than recovering from DK’s death, since that was natural causes. Hancock won’t be the same hero DK was held up to be.

But I still feel bad for Josh. It’s very much a “there but for the grace of god” thing for me and a lot of people. I know I have driven at times when I shouldnt, and thankfully I made it home safely. I can’t say I’ll never try that again but I know I won’t for a while with the pictures of Josh’s wrecked car in my head.

With this news coming out, one thing remains the same; Josh is dead. Nothing can change that; no hand-wringing, no revamped clubhouse rules, no changes in the law or “I told you sos”. Does it diminish the tragedy? Not in my mind. In fact, it makes it more of one, because it could’ve been avoided in so many ways.

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